When Luke McLeod walked out of Bachelor in Paradise with Lisa Hyde, the pair hoped to start something beautiful in the real world.
Their shock exit was for their relationship, but it turned out life off the island wasn’t enough for the fan-favourites.
Fans were left gobsmacked when reports emerged that Luke cheated on Lisa – you can read the full article here
Now To Love caught up with Luke, who confirmed the shocking news, revealing they’ve now broken up.
In a brutally raw interview, Luke shares his side of the story and voices his hopes for his former love Lisa Hyde.
Luke shares his side.
Luke talk me through your decision to leave the show?
Lisa did say she wanted to leave and I was a bit taken aback by that at the beginning. I did struggle a little bit but at the time I had a quick think and I knew I wanted to be with her.
We thought let’s give it a crack and see if we can make it work in the real world.
Did Lisa need to convince you?
She made me feel very comfortable and didn’t put any pressure on me.
It was just a little surprising. All in all we were there for 3 weeks.
But I knew I really liked her.
At that point how strong were your feelings for Lisa? Were you falling in love?
It was a mixture of the heightened emotions from the island. I definitely felt like I was falling but I also know it’s that environment.
We never said we loved each other but I knew she was an incredible woman.
We were mature in some ways where we wanted to take it slower than some of the others.
It’s why we left.
Looking back, were you ready to leave at that point?
We knew the time was coming up anyways. That was my reassurance. I knew it was happening.
It may have been nice to stay there for a bit longer.
Coming back to reality – there’s work, friends, life demands.
We left at the right time.
I didn’t want to put any pressure on her and she also knew it was the right time.
How had you hoped to make it work – continue dating or live together or a play it by ear situation?
It was more let’s see how it goes.
It was an interesting dynamic to come back to because we couldn’t be seen together in public. Everyone assumes you’re single. We were essentially in a secret relationship.
It’s difficult because you want to be a normal couple and you want to just make it work. I don’t think we fully expected that.
We did the best we could.
In light of the reports you cheated on Lisa – do you want to share your side of the story?
There’s always 2 sides to a story and I have a lot of respect for Lisa. I don’t want to talk too much about it. There has be some level of dealing with the relationship – just the two of us.
I was really disappointed that someone had violated our trust and shared the message.
But we also need to accept responsibility for the actions we took in our relationship. We’ve spoken about it.
We’re civil now.
Have you been in contact?
Yes – we’ve been mature and civil.
We understand that people are interested in our relationship.
Relationships are tough at the best of times. Couples have come out of cheating on the otherside, happy and more together. Do you think time could heal this wound?
I honestly don’t know. It’s been difficult because we’re reliving our good moments on TV.
She’s incredible. Right now there’s a lot of pressure. Trying to re-engage something now wouldn’t make sense. I don’t know what the future holds.
All I can say now is that I respect her a lot , I think she’s a wonderful woman and I wish her all the best.
Do you regret that you coupled up with someone so quickly?
I’m so happy I really got to know a beautiful person.
One of the biggest hurdles for the two of you was Michael giving Lisa his rose. How did you feel when that happened? Do you understand why he did it?
I do! Absolutely – I get it! I know where he was coming from and he struggled.
He put his neck out. I’m not angry, we chatted afterwards and there are no hard feelings. I want him to find his person.
Are you friends?
He’s a good person! We don’t hang out – he’s in Brisbane and we have different lifestyles. But if I saw him I’d happily say hi.
What’s your relationship status at the moment?
I’m single. I’m focused on getting back to life. Things haven’t turned out the way that I wanted which is unfortunate. Right now I’m throwing myself back into work and keeping busy.
We got to see such a fun side to you. Your bromance with Sam was a highlight for viewers – how helpful was it having your friends there?
It was incredible! I was so lucky that I had a few mates. It’s a brotherhood – not many people can understand what we’ve gone through.
It was so fun with them.
Also to see things work out for Sammy. He went through a lot with the Bachelorette – now everyone can see what he’s always been like!
And he’s found someone incredible.
Talk me through giving Keira your rose
I was caught off-guard. I see a deeper side to Keira.
She’s out there but deep down she just wants to find someone to look after her. We had conversations about that and I thought she deserved another chance.
I hope that helped her and Jarrod realise to stop playing games.
Jarrod and Keira seem to be turbulent. You lived with them – is what we see on TV accurate
I say this with much respect – it was humorous in some ways.
It was too hard to keep up with. It was on and off all the time.
Was there a Bachie beauty that you’d hope be on the island?
I saw bits of Matty J’s season and I thought Tara was lovely. Other than that I had no expectations – which I think was a good thing.
Are you happy with your BIP experience?
For me it was about putting myself out there –with a real genuine hope of finding someone.
I’m so grateful for the opportunity.
Am I disappointed by how things turned out – absolutely.
But that’s life. You’ve got to learn, grow and move on.
That’s what I want for Lisa as well.
